FROM FOLK CLUBS TO THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL

By Jez Lowe  

After spending what seems a lifetime playing in folk clubs, imagine my feelings when, about four years ago, I found myself standing on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall in London, in front of an audience of several thousand people, about to do my bit at the BBC Folk Awards. 

The event itself had been running annually for over a decade, and while it certainly raised the profile of folk music in the media, with both TV and radio coverage every year, it did cause ripples of unease around the folk scene itself, as to how much it really reflected what was happening around the country, and how connected it was to the average folk music fan. 

I could see why people thought that, but my own experience of it suggested to me that it was done with the best intentions by people with a genuine love of the music. At this point in time, it seems doubtful that the event will ever happen again, but we shall see. 

So, there I was, about to do a big “ensemble” number, alongside Chris While and Julie Matthews, Boo Hewerdine, Andy Cutting, John McCusker, and Barbara Dickson, all of whom had a long history of playing in folk clubs, and all of us thrilled to be standing on such a hallowed stage. Meanwhile, as we got ready to play, someone else was at the microphone, announcing the next award. That person was none other than Ray Davies of The Kinks, hardly a died-in-the-wool folkie, but what he had to say that night deserves repeating here. 

“While mainstream pop music grabs the headlines,” he told the audience, “it’s in the small clubs, the backrooms and the pubs, up and down the country, that folk music helps keep British tradition alive.” 

Wise words from the man who wrote Waterloo Sunset and many other fine songs, but ironic that he should be saying them when and where he did. Even at that time, pre-lockdown, things were changing for folk music’s longestablished way of doing things. Back rooms of pubs were getting thin on the ground as the pubs themselves were closing down, and the folk clubs were struggling to find suitable venues in which to operate. 

Meanwhile folk festivals, were getting bigger, with their list of performers becoming less connected with folk music than in times gone by. I played at one folk festival that year where the headlining acts over the three nights were The Bootleg Beatles, Andy Fairweather-Low and Cockney Rebel, who all put on great shows, but with very little folk content between them. 

Nevertheless, there was no shortage of emerging young talent, something which I’m glad to say is continuing even as I write this. Great songwriters, amazing instrumentalists and outstanding singers were all keen to embrace  the folk banner and show us what they had to offer. The new social media platforms were allowing all of us to step into new territory, whether as performers, listeners, teachers or learners, and this of course has been a godsend, for all its shortcomings and limitations, over the last twelve months or so in the absence of live concerts and sessions. 

Even when live performances resume, it seems clear that the experiences of the last year will stay with us. The “folk community” has grown into a global village. The last on-line sing around that I joined in with had singers from Glasgow, San Francisco, Ithaca, Southampton and Melbourne, sharing songs and conversation like internet pen-pals with a common bond. This could be a very healthy step forward for folk music, at a time when the reallive folk clubs as we’ve known them for half a century are dwindling in number. Now you can stay at home, press the “zoom” button, and away you go. Internet raffles and beer-breaks might not be so very far behind. 

However, I personally can’t wait to get back to playing and listening amongst real people all together under one roof, and I’m sure most people feel the same way. It might take a while yet before that can happen but I think the need will always be there. Folk music is nothing if not a survivor. Just look at how long all the old folk songs have lasted. With those beautiful melodies, powerful and mysterious stories, folk music has a power to captivate and enthral people of all ages and backgrounds and leave them wanting to hear more. That’s certainly how I was first seduced by it, and after fifty years, here I am still hooked.